Figure 5
Effect of proteins in the oviduct fluid on sperm binding to oviduct epithelial spheroids (Experiment 4). The spermatozoa and spheroids were incubated for 60 min in the pre-ovulatory OF at final protein concentrations of 0.06, 0.125, 0.25, 0.5, 1, 2, or 4 mg/mL (a), or in the OF at a final concentration of 1 mg/mL of proteins (OF) and after protein denaturation by heating (Denat OF) or protein digestion by proteinase K treatment (Dig OF). The TLP medium was used as control (a, b). The data are provided as the mean ± SEM of the bound sperm per mm2 relative to control (n = 4 replicates for each experiment).
